mercury grey minter

How are mountain bike frames painted at the factory??

Are they painted,powdercoated or dipped or whatever??

I need a mountain bike frame painting and don't want the paint to come off the first mountain i ride down.

focus st2

I could be wrong but i think they are powder coated

Charlie Chalk

iTrader: (1)

There powdercoated mate

dumped

some are anodised i think

Luca

iTrader: (2)

Most are wet sprayed mate

What frame do you have.. and what forks.. where i work (mtb distributor) we offer a painting service on suspension leg lowers.

Few things you need to be very careful on.

mercury grey minter

CANNONDALE F800 LEFTY.

Now silver,want it bright orange.

Luca

iTrader: (2)

Wet spray that mate...
powder coating is a far to thick for a frame like that..

We offer a service at work to repaint the lower legs to customers choice but these are powder coated and you dont get the finish quailty like original.

The other factor for yourself to consider is decals... if you have it wet sprayed you can then apply some transfers and have lacquered over so will be identical to an original bike.

If you do you must make sure the headtube and bottom bracket area is not sand blasted and also all areas such as holes and threds are well covered ,,,,, pain in the ass trying to rebuild it with a thick coat of paint in the way.

Still amazes me that Lefty fork just looks so fragile..

still cant beat a marzoochi fork though

mercury grey minter

Wet coat.Do you mean 2pac as i work in a bodyshop and was going to do it in FOCUS ST orange.

Luca

iTrader: (2)

Perfect mate.....

steer clear of powder coating.

That will look lovely that colour too, post some pics up of it before and after...

Cannondale restoration

mercury grey minter

Cheers.

Your right about the lefty forks.Fu*k knows how they stay on.

dumped

So what is best for chip resistance. I have seen some original paintjobs fall off by looking at them and some that have not chipped in years? Friend has newer stumpjumper that the paint falls off, other has an older gary fisher that the paint has never chipped on and hes binned it millons of times?

Luca

iTrader: (2)

I think its just down to the quailty of the paint job really, same as a car if they put htin coats on it will tend to flake off and be weak...

Good prime colour and laquer should be sufficant to have a tough paint surface.... either way it will chip of if its hit scratched or stacked...

When i was sponsored i would get through 5-8 frames a year, not through breakages but through chips scratches etc and the bike had to look pristine at all times for shows/comps etc.. good when there free but other wise you can get clear scratch guard protectors for areas prone to abuse.

dumped

I just wondered if there was product that was harder than normal paint etc - guess not